PRESCRIPTION DRUG DIVERSION 2 Prescription Drug Diversion    This paper will discuss the Phenomenon of Interest (POI) of prescription drug diversion

Transferring prescription drugs from a patient or friend for personal use is called drug  diversion. Drug diversion is a significant problem in the united states. The uses of these  medications can be deadly, and this has had a direct impact on the healthcare system. The past  twenty years has seen an upward rise in the use and sale of prescribed drugs, as well as addiction  to them. Although the use of prescription drugs by someone other than who it was prescribed is  not a new phenomenon, drug diversion, abuse, and deaths caused by overdose have dramatically  increased (Inciardi, J. A., Surratt, H. L., Cicero, T. J., Kurtz, S. P., Martin, S. S., & Parrino, M.  W. 2009)  

All facilities are vulnerable to diverters, and incidents of diversion. Diversion is a multi victim crime that poses a significant risk to patient safety and the health care industry. Drug  diversion has an estimated cost of 72 Billion dollars per year. Included in that cost is  productivity loss, rehabilitation treatment, incarceration, mortality, loss of work, court costs,  investigations, and victim costs (Inciardi, J. A., Surratt, H. L., Cicero, T. J., Kurtz, S. P., Martin,  S. S., & Parrino, M. W. 2009) These costs are then passed on to society. Drug diversion  therefore places a major burden on society.  

Healthcare workers are not immune to drug diversion and addiction. According to  Vrecko (2015), healthcare workers account for up to 15 percent of those addicted to alcohol and  drugs. Healthcare workers are in stressful jobs, have problems of their own, and then have 

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access to a variety of drugs. This combination can be detrimental to everyone involved,  including the patient, their families, and the healthcare facility. For this reason, diversion should not be treated as just a criminal concern, but rather as a safety concern for all involved. Health  care workers know loop holes within the system which allow them to get away with drug  diversion. By the time they are caught, too much harm has already been done, possibly to the  patient, as well as the healthcare worker. Drug diversion in health care is detrimental to the  addict, coworkers, employers, and their patients. Patients may either not be getting the  prescribed drug for their pain, or any drug at all, leaving them to suffer in pain. In a few  documented cases, the healthcare worked injected drugs in herself that were not prescribed to  her, and then injected the remaining into the patient with the same syringe, exposing them to  blood borne pathogens. (Warner, A. E., Schaefer, M. K., Patel, P. R. 2015) If the health care  worker is injecting or taking drugs while on duty, his or her judgment will be impaired. In this  scenario, higher rates of error can occur, and all of the impaired health care worker’s patients  could receive substandard care, not just the patients whose drugs were diverted. (Clark, 2014).  In order to protect patients and faculty from harm, all facilities should treat diversion with the  same diligence as other patient safety initiatives.  

All health care workers need to educate themselves about the signs and symptoms of drug  diversion, and substance abuse. Education on the facility’s policy and procedures for diversion  is important. Compassion for all involved is also necessary. While it may be difficult,  healthcare workers have an obligation to the nursing profession, their patients, and the facility  they work for to remain ethical and uphold the standards of care. (Clark, 2014). An effective  health care system should have a controlled substance prevention program in place. Tools to use 

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in prevention of drug diversion include reviews and audits of controlled substances. These  ensure there are no gaps in medications that are dispensed, and that they are given to the correct  patients. This means maintaining records of the people that pulled the medications, and those  who witnessed the waste, if any, of the controlled substances. Staff should be educated on the  risk to patients and the hospital. Staff can also be trained in handling a suspected coworker of  drug diversion. Cameras should be placed in all drug dispensing areas. Staff practices can be  reviewed to help avoid drug diversion before it happens. The problem of diversion is growing  every year and the costs are impacting our society. 

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